Printing marbleized patterns on floor coverings



Sept. 22, 1931. c. F. HUMPHREYS ET AL 1,824,433

PRINTINC; MARBLEIZED PATTERNS ON FLOOR COVERINGS v Original Filed Aug. 12, 1926 Patented Sept. 22, 1931 @NHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES F. HUMPHREYS AND 11'. CLARENCE mconn'rnmor LANCASTER, PENNSYL- VANIA, ASSIGNORS T0 ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVA- NIA, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA PRINTING MABBLEIZED PATTERNS ON FLOOR COVERINGS original application filed August 12, 1926, Serial No. 128,870. Divided and this application flied October 80,

1929. Serial No. 403,481.

This application is a division of our application, Serial No. 128,87 0, filed August 12, 1926.

In the printing of linoleum and other hard surface floor coverings, complementary blocks are employed for successively applying different colored paints to the floor covering to produce the finished pattern. These blocks, in order to properly apply the paint, have a finely subdivided or peg like printing surface. A solid surface is ineffective because it does not allow the paint to spread properly, and when it is lifted from the goods, it tends to suck the paint up with it, mutilating the pattern and further preventing even distribution of the paint. Solid printing surfaces are, therefore, entirely inconsistent with good practice, and are nowhere used. t

In the production of marble effects in printed floor coverings, colored lines of one or more colors are printed on the surface of the floor covering after a ground color has been applied. These lines are crooked and curved, resembling worms, rather than marble, and they are exactly duplicated with each impression of the printing block, each line being regularly repeated at regular intervals in the product.

According to the present invention, these lines are mutilated andblended together and blended intothe ground coat of paint, whereby an artisticmarbleized effect is procured,

wherein exact repeats are avoided and a truly mottled appearance obtained.

The invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents diagrammatically a longitudinal section through a block printing machine.

Figure 2 represents a portion of the printing surface of each of the blocks shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a portion of the printed surface up to the point where the curved l1nes are printed on the floor covering.

Figure 4 shows a portion of the printed surface after the first step of our process.

Figure 5 shows a portion of the printed surface after the final step of our rocess.

lnthe drawings, 2 designates tl fe bed of a printing machine, 3 the Web of material being printed, 4 is the first printing head, 5 the, second, 6 the third, 7 the fourth, 8 the fifth and 9 is the sixth printing head. There may be fewer or more printing heads, the number illustrated being arbitrary and being sufiicient to produce a floor covering according to our method.

Our invention will be described in connection with a. floor covering having a contrasting tile design, wherein one set of square or tiles has a marbleized effect produced therein, but itwill be obvious that this is only by way of illustration, and that the marbleized effect can be procured over any part of the surface of the floor covering, as may be desired.

In the printing of linoleum, the web 3 is intermittently moved along the bed of the machine, and while the web is stationary, the printing blocks are brought down against the surfaces thereof. The printing head or block 4 has printing surfaces 4a there n, which apply the ground color or paint for one set of tiles or blocks, such as the squares 10 in the finished product in which the marbleized appearance is procured.

The next printing head, 5, applies a flat color to the other set of squares, 11, this block having printing surfaces 5a thereon so positioned as not to overlap the pattern produced by head 4. In this particular illustration, these twoblocks 4 and 5 will coat the entire surface of the material as it moves there-.

ing the product.

its surfaces 7a in another color in the squares l-O.

When the floor covering has moved from under the block 7 it has the appearance shown in Figure 3, having an all-over pattern in contrasting colors with colored lines in those areas 10 of one color. So much of the process is old and is now commonly practiced, and the product shown in Figure 3 is what is at the present time the nearest representation of a marble surface obtainable.

According to our invention, the linoleum next passes under the head 8, at which time of course the paint is still wet. The block 8 has surfaces 8a adapted to cover the surfaces 10 of the printed linoleum, and the surfaces 80, instead of being sawed, are entirely smooth. The result is that when these surfaces press the wet paint in the squares 10 with the different colored lines thereover, and then lift away therefrom, the paint is smeared, the contour of the different colored lines obliterated, and the paint left in a rough, unevenly distributed. film in the squares 10, as shown in Figure 4.

Then, with the paint still wet, the web moves under the masher block 9 having sawed surfaces 9a similar to block 4, but no paint is applied to this block. When the sawed surfaces 9a, which are adapted to cover the previously mutilated surfaces 10, press against these surfaces, the paint is smoothed down and evenly distributed, but the curved lines are irregularly blended into the background and into one another, no longer having any resemblance to lines. Instead of being of uniform shade, the paints are blended at some points more than at others, producing delicate shade variations and giving a mottled or stippled efl'ect heretofore not procurable in printing processes of this kind. The smearing of the paint by the block 8 and the subsequent redistribution by the block 9 will not be uniform, so that there will be no repeat of the pattern, thereby still further improv- Besides producing an article which is highly superior from an ornamental standpoint, there is a further advantage obtained by blending the design into the ground color. Where the colored lines are on the surface of the ground color, the colored lines will wear off before the ground color, leaving no ornamentation thereon. By blending the colors into the ground color in this manner, the pattern is just as lasting as the ground color into which it is blended.

While we. have described the invention in, connection with a printing machine, it will also be understood that we do not limit ourselves to machine printing in any step of the process or to the number and arrangement of colors used, the foregoing description being merely illustrative of the invention, and various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. The method of printing floor coverings which consists in first applying a ground coat of paint to at least a portion of the surface of the floor covering, printing a well defined pattern over a portion of the area first coated, then pressing a solid smooth surface against that portion of the floor covering which has been thus printed, and then pressing a smooth block having a divided surface thereagainst.

2. The method of printing floor coverings which consists in applying a surface coat of paint to at least a portion of the surface of the floor covering with a printing block having a smooth divided surface, then printing a definite pattern over a portion of said first coated area, then pressing a smooth solid surface against that portion to which the said surface coat and pattern have been applied, and finally pressing a smooth divided surface against that portion of the floor covering.

3. The method of decorating an area of floor covering which consists in applying a surface coat of paint thereto, printing a definite pattern thereon with a printing block while the surface coat is wet, pressing a smooth solid surface thereagainst while the paint remains wet, then pressing the surface with a smooth masher block having a finely divided surface.

4. In a machine for printing floor coverings, a series of reciprocable blocks beneath which goods to be printed are passed, some of the blocks having sawed printing surfaces thereon, one of the blocks having smooth pressing surfaces thereon, and another block having a sawed smoothing surface thereon, the block with the smooth pressing surface being intermediate some of the blocks having sawed printing surfaces and the block havinlg the sawed smoothing surface.

5. n a machine for printing floor coverings, a series of reciprocable blocks beneath which a piece of linoleum is adapted to be moved, one of the blocks having a sawed printing surface for producing a flat spread of color over a portion of the goods, a succeeding block having printing surfaces with a definite pattern, which pattern is posi-' tioned to be applied to the surface covered by the first mentioned block, still another succeeding block having a smooth projection thereon adapted to cover the area printed by the first mentioned block, and a succeeding finishing block having a sawed smoothing surface adapted to cover the area which the block having the smooth projections covers.

6. The combination with a printing machine for floor coverings and the like having a plurality of reciprocable printing heads, of printing blocks adapted to cover the surface of a floor covering material with paint, a block having a printing surface for ap lymg to such paint surface a predetermine overlying pattern, a block having a. surface positioned to engage the applied pattern'and mutilate at least a portlon thereof, and a. block adapted to engage the mutilated surface and thereby blend the same with the overlying paint.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

CHARLES F. HUMPHREYS. J. CLARENCE MCCARTHY. 

